A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) directed by Michael Hoffman

Starring Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, David Strathairn, Stanley Fucci, Calista Flockhart, Anna Friel, Christian Bale, Sam Rockwell, John Sessions, and Sophie Marceau
reviewed by Debra & John Murphy

Debra Murphy:
Michael Hoffman’s film depicts a universe freely inhabited by faeries and dwarves, satyrs and all sorts of benign if mischievous forest folk, who weave in and [...]

Othello (1952) directed by and starring Orson Welles

In terms of literature, Shakespeare is the greatest mind of all time. Visually, Welles is one of the greatest minds of all time. Bring the two together and you have the makings of an all time classic. Othello certainly qualifies.
It is frightening to think that we may never have been allowed to experience this masterpiece. [...]

Much Ado About Nothing (1993) directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh

© 2004 John Murphy
Much Ado About Nothing was a minor sensation upon its release in 1993. By that time, Kenneth Branagh had come to be regarded as a cinematic Wunderkind, gene-splicing Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier. Flush from the success of heavy-hitters like Henry V and Dead Again, the tireless auteur released this sunny show, [...]

To stage high concept, or not to stage high concept?

That is the question posed by NYC-based theatre critic David Cote in a blog article published by the Guardian UK entitled, “Most Stagings of Shakespeare Don’t Go Far Enough”.
Quoth Cote, after taking Wall Street Journal theatre critic Terry Teachout to task for “grousing” about concept staging in a Big Thing interview:
I also wince at conceptual [...]

Vidclips from Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost

First, here’s the trailer to Branagh’s LLL:
“When love speeks…” Branagh tap- and word-dances to the rhythm of iambic pentameter:

Love's Labour's Lost (2000) directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh

© 2006 John Murphy
I Get a Kick Out of You
Love’s Labour’s Lost is an entertaining mash-up of a 1930’s era musical with one of Shakespeare’s slighter comedies. The combination is less seamless than one might have wished, but Kenneth Branagh and his photogenic cast coast on creamy charm. This flighty flick has all the nutritional [...]

Titus (1999) directed by Julie Taymor and starring Anthony Hopkins

© 2000 John Murphy
Roger Ebert pretty much hit the nail on the head with his statement about this movie: “It’s what the play deserved.” That’s exactly right. The original play by William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus is a gratuitously violent, overblown, hambone piece of trite trash. And I love it. I loved every minute of this [...]

Shakespeare in Love(1998) directed by Guy Madden

© 2006 John Murphy
Bard-love received an unexpected shot-in-the-arm with the 1998 release of this buoyant, multi-Academy Award-winning imagining of the “making-of” Romeo and Juliet. The smart script by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard smoothly mixes Bard biography/mythology, Romeo and Juliet, and some Shax-worthy comedic high-jinks: mistaken identity, cross-dressing, and flights of verbal fancy, courtesy of [...]

Richard III (1956) directed by and starring Laurence Olivier

© 2005 John Murphy
Many excellent actors have tackled that “foul lump of deformity,” the hunchbacked Duke of Gloucester, a.k.a. Richard III. Among them such acting greats as Ian Mckellen and Al Pacino. Say “Richard the Third,” though, and I immediately think of a human spider with hooded eyes, a pageboy haircut, sharp nose, and halting [...]

Twelfth Night (1996) directed by Trevor Nunn

© 2004 John Murphy
Trevor Nunn’s Twelfth Night, released in 1996, is a handsome adaptation, well cast and eminently watchable. What it lacks in inspiration, it makes up for with faultless performances and a consistent tone.  However, as much as I admire this thoroughly competent version of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, I have to confess a decided [...]

Next Page »